North Korean Mafia

The North Korean Mafia is an international crime syndicate that is present in both North Korea and in the Korean diaspora. The Mafia first developed within North Korea, a Stalinist dictatorship that allowed for a state-run mafia to dominate organized crime. Men such as slave trader Lee Choi, smuggler Sun Han, arms dealer Hong-do Seon-u, and money counterfeiting businessman Park Young-guk were allowed to conduct their business with impunity, and men like Seon-u had dealings with the Russian Mafia north of the Russian border. The Mafia also spread to other countries, including the United States, North Korea's rival. Park Young-guk and some Korean People's Army generals were believed to have flooded America with "superdollars" in an attempt to destroy the economy, and North Korean crime prospered in northern New Jersey, where the North Korean Mafia allied with the Spanish Lords gang. The Korean mob also engaged in marijuana trafficking, and Luis Fernando Lopez and his gang often stole their drugs or money.